inside the new exhibition celebrating the history of food in WA
A recipe for a life is celebrating the diversity of WA and its people, from domestic and migratory history to treatment of Chicken Pop-Art.
Do you remember buying 1 ¢ and 2 ¢ Lollies in the corner shop? Do you remember the sophistication and charm of the 80s, which define targets such as Hilite33 and Mediterranean in Subiaco?
What would be the excitement surrounding the moment when the WA’s population breaks (March 1971)-was you lucky enough to invite this event to sign the state dinner?
Cake and cooked products Doyenne Mrs Mac’s name before you remember what? (Tip: Bakewell was their goods.)
Or when West Perth hosted Italian institutions such as D’Orsogna and Re store in the late 1960s, and most of the suburbs how to transport these institutions to lead to Mitchell Motorway?
Do you remember feeding along the road while traveling? Or when the Mounts Mr. Road at the bottom of King’s Park is planted in the market gardens?
And do you remember Red Rooster is going like a famous advertisement from homegrown fast food successAussie on Sundays? When was Chook worth waiting for?
Simply put, do you remember foods, restaurants and people before the emergence of smartphones, social media and viral tiktok trends – did you help feed, grow and define Western Australia?
A recipe for life: Foods that shape us -A new Western Australian exhibition opened at this weekend makes a deep dive into the various, amazing and sometimes unusual food history of the West Australia-West Australia.
The Library’s Menular Cave of the library offers a momentary image of the last 60,000 years, compiled using materials from photographs, books and other printed materials, as seen in the lenses of how and what we eat.
“The State Library is rich and is incredibly proud of our various collections, Clark said Catherine Clark, General Manager of the Library and State Library of State Library.
“Food triggers strong memories and opinions, and there are fascinating stories in the exhibition.”
Although the exhibition has a real Warhol-Esque quality in the photograph of the chicken treatment of chicken, even though the exhibition share from the greedy, crowded satisfaction returns, there is a real Warhol-Esque quality, while retro menus and printed ads on wallpaper and the 80s fashion and poppy technician photo feature was collected in a special way- A recipe for life Kitschy is more than the aesthetics of the year.
Rather, according to the guest curator and cultural journalist and writer Julian Tompkin, the regular editing of the exhibition is to use food to understand and appreciate the various history of WA and its people.
“It wasn’t just a British story, Tom said Tompkin, who passed six months by digging the archives of the library to collect materials for the exhibition.
“The stories of Chinese immigrants who are here and [Afghan] How they are covered with the flavors of Cameleers and Western Australia and this effect is still evident today.
“Food is one of the few things that connect us all, and the library is home to all these extraordinary tales that really draw the rhetoric and history of Western Australia.”
As part of the exhibition, the library, Dale Tilbrook experiences and Nyoongar Elder Dale Tilbrook of Maalinup Aborigin Gallery; Blaze Young, Executive Chief Edward and Ida’sNieuw Harabe and Foxtrot unicorn horse; and George Kailis, Kailis Hospitality Group Impresario, behind Cottesloe’s two hats restaurants, Gibney.
The important points from these dates were compiled into a 25 -minute video to be shown as part of the exhibition.
A recipe for life: Foods that shape us It is shown at the Western Australian State Library between 20 September – 22 March 2026. Entrance is free.
Restaurant investigations, news and the hottest openings served in your box.
Be a member
Max Veenhuyzen has been a journalist and photographer who has been writing about food, beverage and travel for national and international publications for more than 20 years. He’s reviewing the restaurants for a good food guide.
